How Many Days Notice Must Be Given to Evicted Tenants in California?

A landlord can evict a tenant if there is just cause and sufficient notice.

In California, the amount of time a landlord must give to evict tenants depends on the circumstances. In every situation, the landlord has to serve the eviction notice correctly for it to be legally effective. The landlord or his agent can deliver the notice to the tenant in person at home or at work. If this is not possible, the landlord can serve the notice by sticking a copy to the property's front door and mailing another copy.

Subsidized Housing

If the rental unit is considered subsidized housing for the tenant, then the landlord has to provide at least a 90-day notice of eviction. In the notice, the landlord has to explain why he is asking the tenant to move out. The landlord must have good reasons to evict a tenant who is in a subsidized housing situation. Each community has different guidelines regarding what constitutes just cause for eviction, but generally the landlord may evict the tenant if the tenant has been violating the lease terms or breaking the law.

Month-to-Month Lease

A month-to-month lease is an arrangement whereby the landlord and the tenant have an agreement that the frequency of rent payments would be monthly, but this agreement doesn't specify how long the tenant can stay in the property. In this situation, the landlord can give a 30-day notice for a tenant who has only stayed in the property for less than one year. If the tenant has lived in the property for one year or longer, the landlord has to give a 60-day notice.

Failure to Pay Rent and Other Violations

In some cases where the tenant has done something to violate the law or the lease, the landlord can evict the tenant by giving a three-day notice. Some examples of such violations include significantly damaging the property, committing a crime in the property or being a nuisance to other tenants. If the tenant's violation is something that can be corrected, the landlord must give the tenant the option to fix the problem within the three days. For example, if the tenant hasn't been paying rent, the landlord has to allow the tenant to stay in the property if the tenant pays the rent amount stated in the three-day notice.

No Notice Required

The landlord can ask the tenant to move out without notice in some cases. If there is a fixed-term lease with an end date to the tenancy, the landlord can evict the tenant without notice if the tenant doesn't move out after that date. However, the landlord must not take any rent after the lease ends because otherwise the arrangement would revert to a month-to-month lease. The landlord can also evict the tenant without notice if the tenant has given notice to move out but stays past the move-out date. If the tenant lives in the property as part of a job whereby he works for the landlord and his employment ends, the landlord can evict the tenant immediately.